Chicago Cop Gets 8 Years In Robbery

November 13, 1987|By Stevenson Swanson.

A Chicago police officer was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison for the armed robbery last December of an Oak Lawn camera store.

Cook County Circuit Judge Matthew Moran imposed the sentence on Stephen Milhouse, 28, a Grand Crossing patrol officer. Milhouse, a South Side resident who joined the force in 1982, has been suspended from duty since his indictment in January, according to Lisa Howard, spokeswoman for the Cook County state`s attorney.

Milhouse will be dismissed from the force when the department receives the record of his conviction, Howard said.

``He has violated the duty of his office and embarrassed the other 11,700 Chicago police officers,`` Assistant State`s Atty. Thomas Konczal said.

Milhouse was convicted Oct. 21 after a three-day jury trial. Convicted with him was Alex Fields, 24, who also was convicted for two other armed robberies. Fields was sentenced last month to nine years in prison for the three robberies.

Milhouse and Fields stole a $1,500 video camera from Watland`s Camera Store, 9511 S. Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn, on Dec. 6. The two first tried to pay for the camera with a stolen American Express card, but when a clerk told them the store did not take American Express, they fled with the camera, prosecutors said.

The store manager chased the men until Fields pulled Milhouse`s service revolver and threatened the manager, the prosecutor said. The men escaped in Milhouse`s Cadillac but were pursued into the city by an Oak Lawn patrol officer and Chicago police.

The 10-minute chase ended at 79th Street and Campbell Avenue when Milhouse`s car rammed a line of parked motorcycles. The two men fled on foot in opposite directions. When a Chicago officer stopped Milhouse two blocks away, he said he was running to catch a bus, according to Howard. Fields was captured on a nearby rooftop.